Difference between revisions of "Astaroth/Strategy"

Astaroth is a very interesting unit whose main gimmick is to cycle between {{Weapon|None}} and {{Weapon|Magic}} weapon types through the activation of their CS. The ☆3 and ☆4 rarities are tailored for different roles, with the former being a fantastic support when {{Weapon|None}} typed and the latter being one of the best attackers in the game as a {{Weapon|Magic}} type. However, both rarities start off as the other weapon type, making it desirable to charge their CS as quick as possible. While in this charging phase, each rarity can perform the other's role to a lesser extent but still rather decently. Ultimately, as a free unit, Astaroth acts as one of the best mixed supports/attackers in the game, and the different rarities switch the balance of the two roles.

===☆3 Astaroth===

{{Transient icon|Astaroth|rarity=3}} has extremely potent support skills that activate when missing but begins as a {{Weapon|Magic}} type unit and only changes into a {{Weapon|None}} type with the activation of their CS. These skills include +500 HP, +20 CP, {{Status|攻撃強化}}, and {{Status|防御強化}} that are bestowed one square away from ☆3 Astaroth. This flexibility in range combined with {{Status|連撃}} from ☆3 Astaroth's CS makes them one of the best healers/CP batteries/mixed buffers in the game. The main downside is that ☆3 Astaroth needs to charge CP to get to such a point, which can be done through their LB2 which gives CP when attacking. Thus, this rarity of Astaroth will appreciate some form of sustain/protection or external CP charging to be used at full potential.  

===☆4 Astaroth===

On the other hand, {{Transient icon|Astaroth|rarity=4}} is an extremely powerful attacker but begins as a {{Weapon|None}} type and only changes into a {{Weapon|Magic}} type unit with their CS. As an attacker, they effectively have consistent access to three offensive buffs through the extra damage from their LB1 and {{Status|弱点}} and {{Status|攻撃強化}} from their LB3. As such, ☆4 Astaroth is a premier attacker who will easily be compatible with most offensive buffers in the game. Moreover, as a {{Weapon|None}} unit, ☆4 Astaroth has a skill which gives +50 CP after missing, meaning that it will take two turns or less to get them up to speed. Similar to the other rarity, ☆4 Astaroth will desire some team support to facilitate this early phase of battle.

===☆3 Astaroth===

===☆4 Astaroth===

As mentioned above, both rarities of Astaroth operate as attacker and mixed support with ☆3 Astaroth being a better mixed support while ☆4 Astaroth is a better attacker. As such, the roles of Astaroth can be neatly divided along such categories.

===☆3 Astaroth===

Since Astaroth's CP charging is dependent on the number of enemies hit, it's recommended to draw back ☆3 Astaroth when enemies are sparse in order to activate their support skills rather than go for CP. As a {{Weapon|Magic}} typed unit, it's always possible to miss or attack, but it's never possible to attack as a {{Weapon|None}} unit. It's a reminder that being a None unit only guarantees missing, so if the opportunity arises where ☆3 Astaroth can miss even as a Magic unit, it should be greatly considered.

As Astaroth is a free unit, it's easily possible to level their Sacred Artifact to level 100, making their CS do considerable damage for a unit primarily focused on support. With SALV100, {{Status|攻撃強化}}, and extra damage from {{Status|猛毒}}, ☆3 Astaroth does 11.8k damage per square, and these are all effects which Astaroth can easily achieve by themselves. As a point of comparison, this damage is similar to {{Transient icon|Kalki|rarity=4|variant=Christmas}} with all three offensive buffs triggered and his CS damage. Thus, if using ☆3 Astaroth, it's possible to get a decent chunk of damage done with the right offensive support through their CS.

===☆4 Astaroth===

As a free unit, Astaroth's CS damage can be doubled by having SALV 100. Referencing the chart below, this means that her actual CS damage would be 8326 per square, which is a fairly decent amount for a {{Weapon|Magic}} of ☆4 rarity. However, since Astaroth also applies Combo to herself with her CS, the second hit of Combo will also happen, making Astaroth perform an extra 8795 damage per square in the best case scenario. This means that Astaroth will actually do a total of 17121 damage per square with their CS unlike what the chart would otherwise imply. What is also important to consider is that this can be further increased by ATK Up for the second CS and onwards. This makes Astaroth's CS damage to be 18317 per square, and including the extra hit from Combo boosts this number further to 27112 per square. As such, ☆4 Astaroth is an extremely powerful attacker by themselves and can easily be supported due to the rarity of the statuses in their kit.

One note of importance is that ☆4 Astaroth charges CP by missing while ☆3 Astaroth charges CP by attacking enemies. This is a good thing, since it gives ☆4 Astaroth the ability to charge CP regardless of their weapon type, which is not true for ☆3 Astaroth who needs to wait out the weapon change before being able to charge CP by themselves again. This allows for strategic maneuvering where you can choose to have ☆4 Astaroth intentionally whiff in order to access their CS again earlier and access their support role skills.  

Likewise, ☆4 Astaroth also has some abilities as a mixed support, even if it's less impressive than their ☆3 version. They have the same ability of healing and CP charging, but the ranges are reduced to directly adjacent and the procs are reduced to 60% from 80% at skill level 100. Furthermore, the CP charging is reduced from +20 CP to +12 CP, making ☆4 Astaroth to be a merely average CP battery. Lastly, the chances of receiving {{Status|攻撃強化}} or {{Status|防御強化}} is reduced to 30% at skill level 100. This makes having Combo on ☆4 Astaroth a great boon and should be achieved whenever possible.

It might not look like it at first, but ☆4 Astaroth has great tanking capabilities which mostly stem from their LB2. Having {{Status|防御強化}} to themselves is already a great boon since it allows for easy stacking with other common defensive buffs which allies can supply, but the main point of interest is that ☆4 Astaroth receives +400 HP for each enemy hit when attacking. This is an enormous amount of healing which is currently only rivaled by the likes of {{Transient icon|Chernobog|rarity=5|variant=Beachside}} and {{Transient icon|Shino|rarity=5|variant=Valentine}} which even then ☆4 Astaroth is more likely to win out against due to the range of {{Weapon|Magic}}. To demonstrate, an unseeded ☆4 Astaroth has 6236 HP according to the below chart and by hitting five enemies can heal up to 2000 HP, which constitutes approximately a third of their HP. With Combo, this effectively doubles if ☆4 Astaroth hasn't killed the enemy in the first hit. Thus, it's very easy for ☆4 Astaroth to sustain themselves which ☆3 Astaroth is unable to with lack of access to self-healing or DEF Up.

It is highly recommended to skill seed Astaroth for gameplay reasons. Astaroth has a plethora of sub-100% procs which skill seeds would help tremendously with. In particular, guaranteeing ☆4 Astaroth's +50 CP when missing is extremely desirable for consistency reasons. Afterwards, it's best to invest ATK seeds into Astaroth, since it'll give a nice boost in damage especially for the ☆3 rarity who can actually do a surprising chunk of damage with the right help. HP seeds are also nice since both units can benefit from more bulk.

Since Astaroth's skills trigger when attacking or missing, {{Status|連撃}} is a highly treasured buff and teammates who can give it to Astaroth are extremely valuable for speeding up the process of charging Astaroth's CP. It's most effective on ☆4 Astaroth in order to continually retain {{Weapon|Magic}} type, whereas it's impossible for ☆3 Astaroth to do such a feat with {{Weapon|None}} type. There are only a limited number of such units so far so consider using {{Transient icon|Seth|rarity=4|variant=Beachside}} and {{Transient icon|Volos|rarity=4}}.

This applies mostly to ☆3 Astaroth since their method of CP acquisition is somewhat inconsistent, but CP batteries benefit Astaroth quite a bit since their main power is locked behind their CS. This is particularly useful for charging CP after Astaroth has already activated their CS, since the ☆3 rarity has no way of self charging their CP while None typed and the ☆4 rarity would also rather be attacking as much as possible while Magic typed. Some good CP batteries include {{Transient icon|Chernobog|rarity=5|variant=Beachside}}, {{Transient icon|Choji|rarity=4}}, and {{Transient icon|Snow|rarity=5}}.  

This is a problem more for ☆3 Astaroth due to their lack of self-healing and {{Status|防御強化}}, but Astaroth would generally benefit from some form of healing/protection, especially for the first few turns to charge CP. Classic defenders like {{Transient icon|Snow|rarity=5}}, {{Transient icon|Aizen|rarity=5}}, and {{Transient icon|Surtr|rarity=5}} apply here.

This mostly applies to ☆3 Astaroth, but CP boosting ARs which are commonly ☆3 will benefit Astaroth in general. Consider using [[Oath of Pioneer]] if you have it in the case of ☆3 Astaroth.

Both rarities of Astaroth desire to use their CS, so most forms of CP reduction greatly hinder this goal. Common ailments such as {{Status|恐怖}} are very annoying for Astaroth, although thankfully they don't really need to move. For the level 80 dungeon quest in particular, Slimes are an issue due to their CP reduction when damaged. This is an issue for the ☆3 rarity in particular, since their method of CP charging depends on attacking enemies.  

Since an integral part of their kit is changing their weapon, they can easily be countered by removing/nullifying such buffs. This arguably would also extend to enemies who may in the future be able to change weapons similar to Licho, but in some cases ☆3 Astaroth might welcome such a change.

For {{Transient icon|Astaroth|rarity=4}}, Combo makes ☆4 Astaroth charge their CP fully in one turn, making their CS available by turn 2 rather than turn 3. Furthermore, Combo makes ☆4 Astaroth having {{Weapon|None}} type less of a handicap; with Combo, an unseeded ☆4 Astaroth effectively has a 51% chance of giving {{Status|攻撃強化}} and {{Status|防御強化}} to allies directly adjacent to them. Furthermore, this gives an expected value of 600HP and 14.4 CP to allies. Thus, ☆4 Astaroth becomes a competent mixed buffer for the benefit of the team. These same points apply if ☆4 Astaroth whiffs while being {{Weapon|Magic}}. Astaroth also has a dislike buff from Seth, so their damage is boosted although this is a relatively minor effect. After CSing, ☆4 Astaroth can then continually plow through enemies with {{Status|弱点}} notably allowing other allies following them to hit harder.